I was fairly sure that I wasn’t going to watch the royal wedding of Harry and Meghan, but I ended up glued to the tube, just as I was for
the marriage of William and Kate, the marriage of Charles and Diana, the funeral
of Princess Diana, the marriage of Haakon and Mette Marit here in Norway, and the
marriages of both Swedish princesses. I don’t consider myself a
royalist, but I am interested in their lives, mostly from a historical
perspective. It is fascinating to learn how things are done in royal circles. Certainly
watching the Netflix series ‘The Crown’
has been very enjoyable and enlightening. It is so well-done that it feels as
though the past is actually happening right now. I’ve learned a lot about
British history and politics from watching this series. It’s interesting to see
how the royals do weddings, funerals, baptisms and other events that draw
many spectators and well-wishers. Their traditions, rules and customs are
fascinating, if a bit infuriating at times, and this became only too clear when
watching The Crown. Rules about whom
one could and could not marry, associate with, or about what kind of work one
could and could not do, shaped and/or destroyed the lives of the born royals
and those who married into the royal family. I found it difficult not to judge
them too harshly, and yet, they were the products of their times, and that is
what I eventually focused on in trying to understand the past. One cannot use the
mores of modern times to judge the past. Considering all the drama and chaos
that have been a part of the British royal family for the past half a century, it’s
no surprise that they’ve loosened up a bit. Marrying a non-virgin or a divorcee
is no longer taboo, thank God. What is important is love, and that was what the
sermon by the U.S. Bishop Michael Curry focused on at Harry and Meghan’s
wedding. Not just romantic love, but all forms of love. When we non-royals
marry, we take for granted that we can marry those we love; that has not been
the case for many royals. Throughout royal history, royals did not and could
not always marry for love, but married rather out of duty—to parents, to
tradition, to the church. It must have been a tough life for many of them; some
of them opted to pursue extramarital affairs in order to make their daily lives
bearable. In that sense, it makes it easier to understand that Charles, who was
pressured to marry Diana, chose to continue his relationship with the woman he
really did love—Camilla (deemed unsuitable as wife material). His behavior toward
Diana was reprehensible, but so was the behavior of those who forced him into a
marriage he did not want. As fate would have it, he ended up with Camilla, but
only after Diana was killed in a car crash. Princess Diana was the first person
to really bring a breath of fresh air into the royal family; she paved the way
for the changes that have come about in the past twenty or so years. Meghan Markle
is another breath of fresh air; as Harry pointed out—she and his mother Diana (had
she still been alive) would have been as ‘thick as thieves’. In other words,
good friends. It’s not hard to imagine that at all.
I wish Harry and Meghan well; they seem to really love each
other. It is always uplifting to watch young couples starting their married
lives together. An open and unwritten book lies before them, one that they will
write as life moves them along. I hope too that they will make a real
difference in the lives of those around them, and that they will work
tirelessly to promote the charities and causes that they have supported and continue
to support.
